Zoo Director on the Perpetrator

Schönbrunn animal killer “will try again”

According to the director of the White Zoo, the perpetrator had an easy time of it.(Bild: Gerhard Bartel)

Herbert Eder, senior director of the White Zoo, is shocked by the killing of an antelope at Schönbrunn Zoo. He has given the matter a great deal of thought. The result is a veritable profile of the perpetrator. It even explains why no one heard a shot and why no bullet has been found so far.

Herbert Eder struggles to find the words following the killing of a young duiker antelope in Vienna on the night of Saturday into Sunday: “This shocks me,” says the founder of the White Zoo in Kernhof, Lower Austria: “There have always been animal abusers, but this is a whole new level.” And he is certain: “Anyone who does something like this is sick. And that’s exactly why he’ll probably try it again.”

“If this happens again, he’ll be caught quickly”
The perpetrator—Eder is convinced that no woman would ever think of doing such a thing—likely finds the hunt for him thrilling and sees himself all the more as a “wild dog,” the zoo veteran suspects, speaking from his own painful experience: He, too, has faced threats and attempted animal cruelty in the past, though he knew how to defend himself against them. He doesn’t blame his Schönbrunn colleagues: “You can never secure a zoo in such a way that absolutely no one can get in.”

The pool of suspects can be narrowed down with a fair degree of certainty. I don’t believe this was a “prank.”

Herbert Eder, Seniorchef des „Weißen Zoo“

Eder is familiar with the conditions on site—and therefore despises the perpetrator and the act all the more: “It’s like a natural raised hide there by the enclosure. And the animals have no way to escape.” He is convinced that Schönbrunn Zoo will now protect the animals even better, but “should something like this happen again, the perpetrator will be caught quickly—the accumulation of mistakes leads to success.” The “poacher’s instinct” will likely lead to a desire to repeat the act. Eder does not believe it was a “prank.”

Search for rifle bullet in vain?
Eder considers it unlikely that a teenager, for example, stole a rifle from his “father’s gun cabinet” and then fired it with a silencer and night vision goggles. He finds it more plausible that the perpetrator failed his hunting exam and now wants “revenge.” Zoo director Rainer Zöchling, himself a hunter and firearms expert, is certain that the type of weapon used will soon be determined through an examination of the animal’s body. Eder already has a theory.

Because no one heard a shot—and other animals in the enclosure showed no flight response—Eder concludes that it must have been an absolutely silent weapon. Furthermore, the zoo has so far searched unsuccessfully for a projectile using metal detectors. For Eder, therefore, the most likely scenario is that the perpetrator used a crossbow. Such weapons are freely available and enjoy cult status, especially in the survivalist community. Plastic bolts suitable for hunting, used as ammunition, cost just 2.90 euros in Chinese online shops—for 25 pieces.